Remembering One of Our Own

Armando Alejandre Jr. - from the pages of Signum, the Immaculata and LaSalle yearbook - 1968




We do not want to have too many "tearjerker" moments during our reunion, or as we prepare for it. Inevitably, these moments will come. At some point, an "In Memoriam" post will be necessary to remember and honor those who sadly, are no longer with us.

One of our classmates, Armando Alejandre Jr., unfortunately became well known, in an entirely unintended way, when he and three other men were murdered by kaSStro's cowardly "puffwaffe" pilots on the twenty-fourth of February, 1996.

You could not help but notice Armando's lanky, 6-foot plus frame around campus during our sojourn at Immaculata-LaSalle. He and "shorty" bantered and kidded a lot about our respective heights, lack thereof in the case of the writer, exchanging witticisms, such as - "Hey, Seven Floors - how's the weather up there?" "Guys be careful - don't step accidentally on Quiroga!"



I miss the guy, and remember all too well when Nelson Orta called, sounding very upset, to relay the news about the shootdown. The wave of shock which went through yours truly's short frame will never be forgotten.

The reason this is being written is because a documentary about this tragic incident has just been released. Here is the email received via a childhood friend - no, not an ILS classmate - which provides the details you need to know about it.

"Dear Friends & Family:

I'm writing to let you all know that SHOOTDOWN, a documentary film about the downing of two Brothers to the Rescue planes in February of 1996, one of which was carrying my father Armando Alejandre Jr., will be opening in theaters this Friday, January 25th. It was written and directed by my cousin Cristina Khuly. It will be the second largest documentary opening in the last 12 months, only after Sicko, Michael Moore's last film. It has been shown in numerous film festivals around the country and won Best Documentary at the Sonoma Valley Film Festival this year.

It is extremely important that if we all want the truth about what happened that day, and the simple truth about the Castro regime to be heard all over this country and hopefully one day the world, that we do our best to support this film on its opening weekend. Ticket sales have to be high on the first three days of showing (simply put, the only thing the film industry looks at) and will determine the future of this film into which my cousin has poured three years of her life. In case some of you saw a version of the film on the 10th anniversary, please note, that it is a completely different film from the one you screened. It has been worked and reworked until they produced the simplest, most concise grouping of facts which tell the story of February 24, 1996.

Even if you are not interested, please forward this e-mail to anyone you know who may have the desire to see this movie. Below is a list of theaters around the country where it will be playing. Three years ago people in the industry told my cousin this movie would never make it into even festivals because of its subject matter, Friday, January 25, it will be seen around the country.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this message and hopefully support Shootdown.

Marlene Alejandre-Triana"

P.S. If you would like further info the website is www.theshootdown.com <http://www.theshootdown.com/>

Do not wish to re-hash the terrible story of that day here - see the website for that; plenty has been written about it by others far more capable than shorty here. However, Armando was part of our lives, our history during those four wonderful years at Immaculata-LaSalle, he being one who helped make those years memorable. See the movie if you can possibly do so, and spread the word everywhere. We do not forget our friend and neither should anyone else. The world must know and be reminded about this heinous murder, so that someday for Armando's sake, the perpetrators will be brought to justice.

Hope this works....testing, one, two, three!

About three weeks ago, my combination classmate/friend/brother and veteran USMC 2nd Lieutenant, Nelson, casually said, as he slid back the receiver of his trusty Model 1911 Colt .45 pistol, sending it home with a convincing click: "You ARE going to help organize a 40th reunion for our Class of '68, RIGHT!? To which question the only logical reply was: "Of course! Now put that damn thing down!" Guess he knows his buddies. and picked the most anal, obsessive-compulsive perfectionist he knew, drafting his still-short and grumpy mate for the task. Look, would have done it without prodding...after all, can't turn down your schoolmate since we've done a lot of navigating together through life since our friendship began in fourth grade at Baldor Academy in Havana. Sorta like the Lone Ranger and Tonto...

OOPS! A correction is in order - given this 30th of January, Anno Domini 2008 at this location. Or as Dick used to say, "Let me make one thing perfectly clear..."

“Hey Mago, looks great! (He’s speaking strictly about the blog, rest assured! – AQ)
Please change my rank to just Lieutenant since I was a first lieutenant and most people don't know the difference between 1st and 2nd anyway. (And, never mind, who’s on 3rd?? – AQ)
Please also add my last name, this way some who may not remember my first name may recall my last.
Thanks for all the great work.
Best regards”

Reply:

“Jawohl, Leutnant Orta – Bitte, nicht schiessen! Bald, Ich falsch macht richtig! Sie sind wilkommen!!

Gefreiter Quiroga, Kanonier
Kubanische Freiwillig Schwarze-Bohnen Gas-Kanone Batterie, Artillerie Regiment '68”

Hopefully, this makes everything crystal clear, like the water in the ponds at Vizcaya Gardens. Anyone who knows even a tiny bit about us characters should in no way be surprised at this strange dialogue.

OK, back to our regularly-scheduled program, or diatribe.

However, he insisted on backup. So the Gunny agreed to be Backup 1, and our good amigo Ricardo Reimundo, known by many as Lumumba, somehow was persuaded to accept the honor(?) and was duly knighted Backup 2. Now, don't expect fancy here, because ah ain't no expert (Brother Malachy would be horrified at this abuse of the Anglo-Saxon tongue) when it comes to constructing fancy websites, blogs, and such; mostly self-taught and poorly at that. There are technical experts at home, but getting them to help is like getting Osama Bin Laden to kiss Dubya - or vice versa. Ah, technical experts...you can't live with 'em, but you can't shoot them either.

Here is the goal, and the plan for the reunion. "We" want to keep it simple. "We" want to keep it low budget, both for us and for the rest of you. "We" just want to make it a no-stress, fun experience. Our twentieth reunion was wonderful, but we understand that not only did it take a lot of hard work planning, organizing and coordinating events, but also turned out to be an expensive, exhausting experience for our classmates who took that bull by the horns. This may explain why there has been no reunion since then. No criticism is expressed or implied in this statement; our hats are doffed to our friends who took that one on.

Moral of the story: This is being done with the KISS principle in mind, to avoid things degenerating into pure, pasteurized Grade A FUBAR...

The plan at this point is to gather together, sometime in May - 2008, that is - and not on Memorial Day weekend; the venue would likely be Crandon Park. Failing in that, perhaps early June, or late June before the Fourth of July...otherwise things are going to get pushed into September, and that's pushing it - be nice to avoid doing this at the height of - no, no don't wan't to say it - hurricane season. Happen it will though, even if, as Lumumba so well said, "it's just the three of us under the shade of a mango tree in my backyard, beers in hand!" We're in, Ricardo! Just make sure you clear it with Mrs. Ricardo.

The Un-official committe right now is trying to find all those in our graduating class, realizing some are, very sadly, no longer with us. Your help is needed! Not only are we trying to get some kind of head count, but also addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, web or blog site addresses, Instant Messenger names - what have you - are needed desperately. We need them for our former teachers, coaches, and Mortal Pain Inflicters as well. Email addresses are great because they allow very quick communication between the parties. Therefore, please contact the Un-official committee via this blog. That is primarily why it has been created, as a web hub to bring us together as quickly as possible. The primary email address which you may use to contact us is ils6468@gmail.com; of course you can also do so through the comments section. The comments are moderated and you can specify these not be published if all you want to do is provide information without sharing it.

Once we hear from you, will send a - call it a "letter of intention" about the reunion, with additional contact information - this can be emailed, faxed, or "snail-mailed." Email obviously is the most efficient method. We are trying to reach as many in as short a time as possible, being that time is of the essence, and time's fun when you're having flies. Huh? Did "we" really say that?

And who were "we?" "We" in this instance meaning us, the Band of '68.

Well, here are some of us, "captured" in a page from The Miami Herald, sometime in May, 1968.



And, of course, you still have your program from our graduation ceremony, the 2nd of June, 1968 - right? But in case you unfortunately do not, here is your personal copy to help you recall that beautiful, yet sad day - beautiful because "we had arrived!;" sad because we would afterwards inevitably scatter to all points of the compass and beyond.






This is, to quote Churchill, "...not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. " This post is meant to whet your appetite and encourage you to stay tuned-and connected. We will do our best to make this reunion happen, but it will be impossible without you, our friends and classmates. This reunion is not an Impossible Dream - let us make it reality!